In this video, I will share some of my favorite camera settings and strategies.These simple adjustments can make a huge, difference in your renderings.Since we've previously covered the physical camera,let's start there and open the V-ray options.On my V-Ray toolbar, click over options, and here is the camera section.Now we're using the physical camera, so it's important that youhave the exposure box checked, otherwise this camera is pretty much useless.Also I'm going to be doing most of my adjustments on shutter speed.

So you do have F number, which is the F stopon a camera, and shutter speed which work hand in hand.I like to just stick with one, so it's kind of a personal preference.So we'll leave this at 30.In future renderings, we may make adjustments on the speed alone.Let's go ahead and just do a comparison render.Make sure this view point is highlighted.Hit the R4 render button.You may have noticed the label I gave it.I called that the beginner default view.So, I see this problem with a lot of first timers andstudents just forgetting what the project looks like cause they're so familiar.So, to me this looks like someone just dropped it, and forgot it.So, we're going to have to make some adjustments on that.I'm going to go ahead and move that out of the way.So, next up I've got a check list, so this is a bit of othermaterial from earlier but, I think it'suseful bringing it all together in one spot.So, let's close some of these and make room, onthese other view ports you can see I've got thelighting, I always have a key light at the topand that's going to be the brightest light in the scene.So, if we want to check its properties you'll notice over hereon the properties side bar under light its an intensity or powerof eight and then the fill light which is great to makesure there's no dark shadows along edges, that's about half the power.So I've got that set at four.Also, one thing we haven't gotten into.As you make larger and higher quality renderings,you start to see a little bit of artifacts.

So, the quality setting for the light is down here.And its called subdivisions, so by default,a lot of properties start off at eight,you can actually double that to 16, and that would clear up almost every problem.If you're going to do a gigantic rendering, you mightwant to bump it up to 32, its the maximum.But until you notice a problem, I would just leave it at eight.So item number two on our check list is extra copies.I turn on this penguin prop layer.We talked about this earlier as well, that's where I try to avoid having oneobject, I don't think there's any way you can make a single object look interesting.

It just looks lonely.So, now we have an assembly, there's kindof a dialogue we're also seeing other views.This is very important, you don't have to do threerenderings, you can do one, just make copies and rotate them.And as I also like to say, there's noextra charge for copies, make as many as you want.We talked about camera position, this is the upin the sky default beginner, I've got it labeled.Let's go to named views.And try to get this a little more dramatic, so I'm going to switchto the better view, so I think this is way better, we're alittle bit more up front and personal with our characters or designs, butI think this is another amateur mistake here, because we're just trying to get.

Every part of every object in this scene, not necessary.If we can't see the part of one object, we know it's still there.So I'm going to click over to the best.We're going to zoom in just a little bit.So, I'd like to get kind of a definition of foreground and background objects.Now that I have all the items kind of in the same plane.From the camera.Feel free to have stuff up close.It's a little more dynamic and way more interesting.So, that takes care of item number four.Number five on my little checklist is the camera angle.

So, if you forget where that is, we're going to go to Viewport Properties.I like to stick around 30 millimeter lens, that's slightly wideangle, but the default on most Rhyme installations will be 50.To me, that's just not distorted enough.It's too flat.I like to have it exaggerated just a bit.If you go down to like 15 or lower, it's going to becomelike a fish-eye lens and everything is going to be way too distorted.So that's not good either.Try 25 or 30, is a good starting point.And finally item number six on my little, mini checklist iswide scenes like this can sometimes benefit from a little tilting.

So what I mean by that.So we're going to go to set camera > Tilt the view.So, sometimes things that are horizontal can look a little static.So I'd just like to tip this guy just a little bit.I kind of also call this the comic book pose.So, you'd be surprised a lot of objects that kindof look boring, if you have a little bit of tilt.They suddenly look a little more dynamic.So that's it for the checklist.Let's hit a couple other tips as we move around the scene.We talked about this before.If you want to see exactly where the camera is, there is a shortcut F6.

So, that takes the camera from the perspective Viewport and it shows up inthe other Viewports, and as you can see from this front view, it is tilted.That's the most obvious part, but it is looking horizontal.So the camera wants to be low.Looking level or slightly up.Finally, we've made some changes.Actually I'm going to hit F6 to turn that camera off.Now that way a name views, and this is very important.If you want to get back to this same image, it's going to beactually gone by, when we turn our line off and back on.So, I'm going to go ahead and save this view.We've done a tilt, so you'll notice the best view I had earlier is horizontal.

This is actually a little bit different.It's no longer best view.So let's save it.And I'm just going to call it the data view.Seems like a logical name.Now, if this thing gets mixed up.Or rotated accidentally, or you just closed the program.I could find the data view on here, there it is.Just Double-click and the camera repositions.This is actually a huge benefit.As you're doing lots and lots of testing renders for some projects.I like to get it back the exact same spots, then compare much better.Okay, we've made a bunch of changes.Let's go ahead and render this data view prospective shot.I'm going to hit R for render.Okay, the rendering's complete.I'm really liking the way this is composed.It does look a touch dark to me.I'm going to go ahead and make some changes here.And this is the entire reason we're using the physical camera.If we weren't using the physical camera, with this little adjustment.

On the intensity or lighting, we would have topossibly change multiple lights or the materials or both.So, that's why I'm using the physical camera whenever possible.So 30th of a second is coming out too dark, so we want to slowthe lens shutter speed down 15 to the 2nd will be open twice as long.Let's go ahead and do a quick test ofthat one change, and you can see the difference here.Click "R" for render.Okay, so it's looking a lot better.Maybe even a little bright it all depends upon your taste.

So I'm going to share with you another littlecool adjustment, that many people have never noticed.So, I'm going to go back to the options that's because they're still open.This one is called vignetting.So I've actually found this out by accident,by clicking on it when I didn't meant to.What it's going to do is kind of highlightthe center of this scene, and then very verysubtly it'll a darker towards the extents ofthe outside, and that's all you have to do.So, when I was saying earlier it was a little tobright that's okay, I can turn vignetting on and I'll re-render.

Make sure the tab is still selected.It is R for render and be right back.Okay, the vignette version of the render is done, and you cansee it has a fairly dramatic popage is what I call it.We've got this center area almost looks like somebody used a spotlight.You can see this fade of intensity going off to the sides.So, the attention is really focused on the center.But you've got kind of dynamic tilt angle and you've got stuff in the foreground,you've got stuff in the background andthings are reading clearly and looking very compelling.

So, the camera and it's placement can makea big difference in a well composed rendering.Fortunately, there's not a lot of settings or strategies involved.Besides the few we just covered.They key is to make your render pop to new viewers.And that means it should read quickly and clearly, and have a little bit of drama.

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Released

6/19/2014

Before you can showcase your 3D designs, you need renders of your work that really pop. Learn how to render with Rhino and V-Ray in this course, which includes three fun sample projects: a penguin with glasses, a retro TV frame, and a funky birdhouse. First, author Dave Schultze shows how to install V-Ray and demystifies 3D concepts such as global illumination and raytrace rendering. He demonstrates techniques for rendering quickly with both Rhino's built-in rendering and V-Ray, and explains how to customize materials, enhance them with texture mapping, and add realistic surface textures using bump and displacement maps. Along the way, Dave shares insider tips and tricks on rendering, while showing how to get the right lighting for your scene, use color correction tools, and render with the V-Ray frame buffer.